Here we go, it’s the last month of 2022 when the spirit of festivity starts to build. Some businesses get to slow down while others must speed up to reap the benefits of holiday shopping. In either case, we all understand that December is different from other months.
The holidays help us separate one year from another and to recharge our batteries. It’s a good opportunity for business owners to show true leadership as they keep their team focused on finishing strong.
December 2022 will happen quickly, so we wanted to plant a seed in your mind now for 2023. Nurture it a little bit every day this month, and you’ll feel great when it springs up.
What are we talking about?
It’s all about using the month ahead to be in the right frame of mind for January 2 so that you can have a more powerful start in 2023.
December Resolutions
You’re familiar with New Year Resolutions. What better time to make important changes so you can have a better life or a more successful business? Of course, it’s also common to fall off before January ends. January also feels like the longest month of the year for many people.
Most people don’t follow through on year-long commitments or sudden changes. So, why not take a gentler approach with some healthy activities this month? December is the last month of the year, and it goes by quickly. There are usually nice things to look forward to, so use that to your advantage! It’s just one month to focus on. It’s like giving yourself a gift for next year. You can do this!
Wind Down with Reflection
Many people gravitate toward amusement when they start the Christmas run-up, but you can be more effective by winding down with reflection. What happened at your business in 2022? Think about it, but don’t save this exercise for the end of the month. Do it a little bit each day during December.
Write it down in a fresh notebook. We’re not talking about a life-long memoire here. It’s one month, and a quick one!
And don’t start or finish with the negative. Think about your successes and work back through the challenges you faced. Then, work forward again to the bright spots. Transform the basic facts of 2022 into a story. You might not be a gifted writer, but that doesn’t change the fact that you should get to be the author. It’s healthy for you to be the author of your own past and your responsibility as a leader to do it for your organization.
Mine your 2022 for fresh insights by looking at cause-and-effect relationships. The connections between events probably look a lot different now than they did back in March or September. 2022 might not have been the best year, but in any case, you experienced a lot, and you learned a lot. Don’t let the richness of the last year as a learning experience die in a haze of festivity.
Above all, give yourself the gift of gratitude. It will set you up to be more productive because there is an established positive relationship between feelings of gratitude and mental health.
Prepare for Productivity
As a business leader, your primary job is to work on the business rather than within the business. For you, true productivity is different from that of your employees. But the worst time to work on your business is when you are in a reactive state of mind.
Come January 2, you’ll want to avoid being in a fight or flight mode where you’re putting out fires and not thinking about the future. The best way to avoid an expensive state of reactivity is to make room for yourself outside of the business so that you can work on it.
And December might be the best time for you to make that space. You could look for opportunities to delegate tasks to employees. You could use slow moments to eliminate inefficiencies in a process. You could even find a 3rd party service that can do some of your business tasks more efficiently.
We recently discovered a service that could reliably and inexpensively streamline some of our processes so that we could have more time to focus on growing. Your answer could be right under your nose, but you don’t see it because you’re in a state of reactivity rather than proactivity.
The key here is to make the best use of yourself as an asset to your business. It’s not advisable to announce sweeping changes for 2023, but it is a good time to observe how things are done and think about changes you can make in January.
Evaluate Your Relationship with Technology
As a technology firm, we know how technology frustrations and distractions can keep businesses in a reactive mode.
One way to effectively remove distractions is to form good habits with email. When things start to slow down in December, make a habit of looking at your email and other communications at set times throughout the day. Depending on the nature of your business, you’ll be less likely to encounter an emergency this month. So why not start a healthy habit of checking your messages 3 times a day?
If there is a tendency for your emergencies to disregard the holidays, set up an isolated communication stream for true emergencies. If you’re not guarding yourself in the area of communication, do your future self a favor and put it in place before you go on holiday!
Now is also a good time to clean up your computer, organize your data, tidy up your wiring, and make sure that you won’t have any problems at the first of the year. This could be as simple as using a system cleanser such as ccleaner to give your computer a little TLC. In our experience, it can really breathe new life into overloaded machines.
Or it could mean seeking an initial consultation with DatCom Biztech Solutions for superior IT support.
If you want to be a true asset to your business as its leader, you don’t want anything slowing you down or raising your blood pressure on January 2nd. Technology is prone to ruining a fresh start.
Think ahead to how you want to be on January 2nd.
2023 will be here before you know it, but we encourage you to use December wisely to put yourself in the right frame of mind.
